Education Leaders Propose Bill to Rebuild America's Public Schools

WASHINGTON - Today, House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-03), Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01), and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced the Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2026. The legislation invests more than $130 billion in our schools' physical and digital infrastructure, and the resources are targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff.

"Chronic neglect of America's public schools has forced students and teachers across the country to learn and work in outdated and hazardous school buildings. Moreover, dilapidated and poorly ventilated school facilities pose significant health threats that make it harder for teachers to teach and students to learn," said Ranking Member Scott. "The Rebuild America's Schools Act invests $130 billion in our nation's physical and digital infrastructure, improves students' academic recovery efforts, and creates more than 2 million jobs over the next five years. It is far past time to improve public education infrastructure."

"Every student should be able to go to school in a building that's safe, clean, and built to help them succeed," said Congressman Norcross. "That means rebuilding and repairing the schools they walk into every day, not letting roofs leak, boilers fail, or air quality put their health at risk. That's why I was honored to introduce the Rebuild America's Schools Act with Congressman Scott, to make our schools safer and healthier while creating over 2 million jobs across the country. Our kids are our future, and we have a responsibility to invest in them."

"Improving school infrastructure is critical to the health, safety, and well-being of America's students and our communities. Investing in school infrastructure is a moral and economic imperative. The Rebuild America's Schools Act would provide dedicated, long-term investments in improving America's schools and ensuring every student can learn in a safe, healthy, modern classroom. Passing this bill would help improve school facilities, put more people to work, and improve student academic outcomes," said Senator Reed.

America's public schools are in dire need of investment to make up for decades of neglect. In June 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 54 percent of school districts across the country must replace or update critical infrastructure in more than half their buildings. Crumbling school facilities with asbestos, contaminated water, and mold pose significant health and safety threats to more than 50 million students and 3 million teachers in public schools.

The Rebuild America's Schools Act would:

· Invest $100 billion in grants and $30 billion in bond authority targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff.

• Create over 2 million jobs based on an Economic Policy Institute analysis that each $1 billion spent on construction creates 17,785 jobs.

• Require states to develop comprehensive state-wide public databases on the condition of public-school facilities. Most states do not track school facility conditions, and this would provide much-needed insight into the condition of our public schools.
• Improve broadband and Wi-Fi in public schools.

In the House, Rebuild America's Schools Act has 80 original cosponsors including: Adam Smith (WA-09), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Donald S. Beyer (VA-08), Stacey E. Plaskett (VI-AL), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Joseph D. Morelle (NY-25), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Sean Casten (IL-06), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Mark Takano (CA-39), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), John W. Mannion (NY-22), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Sanford D. Bishop (GA-02), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Daniel S. Goldman (NY-10), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), André Carson (IN-07), Frank J. Mrvan (IN-01), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Bill Foster (IL-11), David Scott (GA-13), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Angie Craig (MN-02), Christopher R. Deluzio (PA-17), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Lois Frankel (FL-22), George Latimer (NY-16), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Joe Courtney (CT-02), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mary Kaptur (OH-09), Salud O. Carbajal (CA-24), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson (GA-04), John Garamendi (CA-08), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Greg Casar (TX-35), Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Al Green (TX-09), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Judy Chu (CA-28), Wesley Bell (MO-01), and Dina Titus (NV-01).

In the Senate, Rebuild America's Schools Act has 17 original cosponsors including: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

The Rebuild America's Schools Act is endorsed by: 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services, American Library Association (ALA), American Institute of Architects (AIA), American School Superintendents Association (AASA), BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), Build America's School Infrastructure Coalition (BASIC), Children & Nature Network (C&NN), Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), Craven County Schools (CCS), Green Schoolyards America, Greenbank Associates, Healthy Schools Campaign, Heart of America (HOA), International Association of Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC), Kentucky School Plant, Management Association (KSPMA), National Council on School Facilities (NCSF), National Education Association (NEA), National School Plant Management Association (NSPMA), North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), Rentokil Terminix, SafeTraces, the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS), UndauntedK12, and U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Read the bill text of the Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2026 here.

Read the fact sheet for the Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2026 here.

Read the section-by-section for the Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2026 here.

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